Personal items which are large but portable, such as bicycles, skis, and the like, are commonly transported from place to place in or on vehicles such as automobiles or pick-up trucks. Typically, such articles are carried in the trunk or on the roof or rear deck of an automobile, or in the open bed of a pick-up truck. Various security devices have previously been used for securing such items against theft, but these have all been cumbersome or unreliable, especially under extreme temperatures. None has provided a simple yet effective means of securing personal property to an automobile or truck to prevent its unauthorized removal. Rack-mounted security devices, for example, can be complicated to use and are often easily circumvented through the use of ordinary hand tools. In addition, security devices which are mounted to the exterior of a vehicle often fail to expand and contract thermally at the same rate as the vehicle's surface, resulting in degradation of the coupling between the vehicle surface and the security device.
Accordingly, it is one of the objects of this invention to provide a simple yet reliable means for removably securing personal property to a large object so as to prevent theft of such property.
A more particular object is to provide a sturdy, tamper-proof means for securing portable items to a vehicle.
A further object of this invention is to provide a reliable means for securing personal property that is useable under the temperature extremes normally encountered out-of-doors.
Another object is to provide a device of this nature which is difficult to defeat; in particular one in which a steel tube prevents removal of the security cable which is associated therewith, and from which the steel tube itself is nearly impossible to remove when the device is in use.
It is also an object to provide such a device in a configuration which is simple and therefore economical to manufacture; in particular one in which the steel tube may be inserted after molding of the main body of the device.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description.